Alon Marcus

Yes, I can identify the instrument, it's mine! I lost it a few weeks ago during a walk in my backyard.

Actually I don't think you can download it. I just put the link because it has the track listing and the AMG review. I just don't like to link to AMG because their site desighn is very clumsy.

It was one of my favorite albums since I first started to listen to jazz. It took some time for stuff over there to sink till I understood it but the teaming of two of my favorite artists Wayne Shorter and Michel Petrucciani is irresistible. I like very much Shorter's soprano on that album. The Manhattan Project

I agree with Rooster about terminology. The name of the specific style is not so important as it is comfortable. I like to think about styles of music as infinitesimally small relation points on a huge map. The artist may travel everywhere he wishes but sometimes he is closer to one relation point than another. Nate, I'm ashamed to admit but I'm not familiar with the Henderson records you mentioned. That's a huge educational gap especially because stuff like Inner Urge is considered classic. What do you guys think about this box? Are you familiar with it? The Blue Note Years

It's not too late for everyone to delete their responses.

Avant-Garde is a broad term but it is used in a jazz context mainly to define a specific style that was developed during the 60's and onwards, after the "free jazz" or the "new thing" revolution. In that sense "The Real McCoy" has nothing to do with the Avant Garde. It's quite a mainstream record (modal jazz if you'd like) following Coltrane's classic quartet. All categorizations aside this is a wonderful album. I'm not sure that Joe Henderson and Tyner had recorded together much after it except for their New York reunion

Maria Schneider has spent a few years as an assistant to Gil Evans. It shows in her choice of instrumentation and voicings. Pieces like "Some Circles" and "Gumba Blue" remind of Evans' collaborations with Miles. Nevertheless she is a highly original and interesting composer and orchestrator. "Wyrgly" which opens the album has grown on me with time. It's a bit complicated and condensed piece of music. It starts with short bursts of angular brass phrases laid above a steady pulse. The phrases are used as an intro and hint about what is going to happen. Later they are weaved a few times into the other themes. Next is what I call the shuffle part and only afterwards comes the main theme on which the tenorist Rick Margitza improvises. John Fedchock on trombone and Ben Monder on guitar close the song with inspired improvisations on the shuffle vamp. Maria's music is always filled with surprises and changing moods. "Evanescence" which begins calmly with an optimistic, light and charming melody suddenly is developed into a serious and a bit sad improvisation of Rich Perry on tenor sax, which is played on an original turnaround of minor chords that create a feeling of infinity. Tim Hagans' solo is crossed with motifs from the first theme and the listener is kept in tension, always wondering about what would happen next. The same sense of surprise characterizes "Green Piece". You just can't stop listening to this landscape of alternating moods and sounds cause you are looking forward to see how it develops and how it returns to the original theme. Kenny Werner plays a wonderful solo here and he is an important contributor to the success of the whole album. Maria also learnt something from Duke Ellington. Some of the songs fit so perfectly the soloists (like "Some Circles", "Gush", "My Lament"), that I think they were written or at least chosen with the specific players in mind. She is also able of writing catchy tunes which make her music accessible ("My Lament", "Evanescence" and "Green Piece" are some examples). My favorite songs are "Gumba Blue" and "Dance You Monster to My Soft Song". Gumba starts with the rhythmic contour of the main melody played by the percussions but you can only recognize it on repeated listening. This is actually a slow and a hip blues that is shifted into a very fast and sophisticated minor blues during the improvisations. Greg Gisbert (trumpet) Kenny Werner (piano) are doing a great job there. "Dance You Monster to My Soft Song" just wouldn't leave you indifferent. The music is so full of the best swing and drive possible that it turns you into a participant. Ben Monder's solo on guitar is probably one of my favorite improvisations on the disc.

By the way one of the books in Aebersold series is about free jazz. It contains explanations written by Kenny Werner. http://aebersold.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv...ory_Code=AEBALL ...and the link to Aebersold's website http://www.aebersold.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc

"Mellow Mood" with Wes and Grady Tate is one of my personal favorites ever as I mentioned a few times before. I like very much both albums with Wes in general.

I have no clue, maybe someone will find their source on the internet. I recieved it in a mail from a friend. Sorry for the ignorance, but who is Sebastian Kreuger?

Michele (not Petrucciani!)

Ester!

Tina!

His former wife

Some more celebreties

Post here funny pictures that you like. No special theme or topic required. I'll start :rsmile:

Is it true that Sonny Rollins wrote "Under the Bridge" for Red Hot Chilly Peppers?

I have not been banned (yet ) or dead but already have a few messages with my name on it that say I'm unregistered. The story goes like this: 1. I used to have a different user name 2. Wanted to change my username but was to lazy to ask b3-er 'bout it. 3. Opened a new user name. 4. b3-er caught me. 5. He deleted my new username (it's the unregistered one, I made several posts with it) and changed my regular username to the one I wanted. 6. Thanks again b3-er!

Just wanted to share with you guys my admiration for John Coltrain, West Montgomery and Erik Dolphin!

My favorite Smith is on albums with Wes Montgomery and Grady Tate. Tate's drumming elevates Smith to new and exciting levels, like his solo on the tune "Mellow Mood".

I think that Cherry's album "Complete Communion" is the apogee of the concepts presented more than 5 years before its recording by the Coleman - Cherry groups. It extends and crystallizes the same ideas of harmonic freedom but it is also much more fun to listen. The first piece "Complete Communion is more than 20 minutes long but one never feels it. It works on a subconscious level without trying to understand what exactly is going on. Constantly interesting and what is more important constantly surprising. The wealth of melodic material is amazing. Don Cherry was a super talented writer. Most of the tunes are short, simple and iterated many times. They serve as starting material for improvisations and also as links between the parts of the composition. The song like themes are get stuck in your brain and you just can't get rid of humming them all day long. Cherry's improvisations are far from being perfect but they are full of melodic discoveries and an imaginative exploration of his own tunes. Gato Barbieri with his tenor sax is much more powerful. He is technically accomplished and exciting. My favorite tune is the one that starts circa the 14th minute when Blackwell changes his use of the drum (I'm not a drummer and can't tell exactly what he is doing but I love it). The final theme is relaxed and somehow official before the beginning is restated and the music halts. "Elephantasy" starts with a playful tune that is built in a ABA form and a rubato coda which also serves as an introduction to the next theme. The A section has a jumpy melody made of strong rhythmic motifs while the short B is more relaxed and ceremonial. The coda (circa 4 minutes and 45 seconds from beginning) actually contains one phrase initiated several times by Cherry. After the phrase is stated the band locks into a harmony and moods and comments freely. Cherry plays the role of a conductor and a composer simultaneously leading the musicians to new moods and leaving them space for self expression. The second tune begins at about 6 min. and 20 sec. Barbieri solos typically for him, fiercely with great passion but also logically and songfully. The end of his solo is marked by an accompaniment comprised of long tones played by the horn and Don is next. Notice the difference and the similarities in Gato's accompaniment for him. Grimes brief solo is built around the central motive of this tune and Blackwell changes his drumming to a more subtle one. The final bunch of melodic material is presented between the 11th and the 14th minutes when a 3/4 groove starts on which Cherry, Barbieri and Grimes run their solos. Most of the ending after the 17th minute mixes prewritten melodies with ornamentations on those melodies. The ornamentations are not the exactly the same as the old masters like Armstrong and Lester Young used to do. The restatement of the first tune before the ending makes this piece into a cohesive whole.

Thanks bary01! Great website.

What I liked most about the test is the fact it had both Country and Western.

Don Wilkerson - Elder Don

Thanks Larry, I always thought that locked hands and block chords are essentially the same except that maybe the term block chords is more general and also relates to other instruments and orchestra. Can you explain the difference? Also, there are probably as many different variations on block chords as there are many different pianists, but I'll be glad if someone could add a survey of the technique.